Standard & Poor’s School Evaluation Services Released in Pennsylvania

www.ses.standardandpoors.com Live for Pennsylvania’s Schools  

On October 3, 2001, Standard & Poor’s School Evaluation Services (SES) for  Pennsylvania’s schools was released. Parents, teachers, school administrators and all others committed to improving education in Pennsylvania will gain access to the most comprehensive system of analysis ever developed for the state’s schools. Anyone with Internet access can log on to http://www.ses.standardandpoors.com/ to read summary reports and review in-depth data analyses on every school district in the state.  

Pennsylvania is the second state to contract with Standard & Poor’s for this unique service. Since Standard & Poor’s unveiled its School Education Services for Michigan last spring, tens of thousands of parents and educators have logged on to learn more about Michigan’s schools.  

“This new service gives parents and schools access to the kind of powerful management tool that businesses have relied on for decades,” said Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Charles B. Zogby. “Now, schools will be able to make meaningful comparisons with each other and share best practices to improve education. That’s better for our schools and – most importantly – better for our children.”  

“There’s nothing more important than making sure our children get the best education possible. Without it, they’ll miss out on so much in life,” Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge said. “That’s why I asked Standard & Poor’s to give us an objective, thorough evaluation of each of Pennsylvania’s 501 school districts. This dynamic new tool will empower parents to hold their schools more accountable – and give teachers and school administrators the information they need to improve the way they teach our children.”  

SES includes more than 1,500 pieces of information for every district. The information is analyzed to provide observations on student results, spending, return on resources, learning environment (such as class and school size, staffing levels, technology and safety), financial environment (such as revenue resources, reserve levels, tax and debt burdens), and demographic environment (such as socioeconomic characteristics).

In the coming months, Standard & Poor’s will introduce a second round of SES for Michigan and Pennsylvania. In addition, efforts are currently underway with several key policy makers to bring Standard & Poor’s Evaluation Services to other states.